Candles: what one candle tells you
What you learn in 3 minutesA single candle on a chart is just four numbers for one slice of time: the open, the high, the low and the close. Everything you see in its shape comes from those four figures, and nothing else. On USD/INR, where one pip on one standard lot is ₹10, those four numbers decide what a move was worth in rupees.
One USD/INR candle worth ₹2,400
| Step | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Open | 83.2500 | the price at the start of the chosen time slice |
| High | 83.2600 | the highest price reached during that slice |
| Low | 83.2360 | the lowest price reached during that slice |
| Close | 83.2450 | the price at the end of the slice |
| Body | 5 pips | open 83.2500 minus close 83.2450, a fall of 0.0050 |
| Body in rupees | ₹50 | 5 pips x ₹10 per pip on one standard lot |
| Upper shadow | 10 pips | high 83.2600 minus open 83.2500 |
| Lower shadow | 9 pips | close 83.2450 minus low 83.2360 |
| Whole range | 24 pips | high 83.2600 minus low 83.2360 |
| Range in rupees | ₹240 | 24 pips x ₹10 per pip on one standard lot |
Brokers vary in how they round prices, what spread they quote, and whether they add commission or other charges. The figures above are the raw numbers from the four prices, before any of that.
The mistake people make here
The common mistake is to look only at the body and ignore the shadows. A long upper shadow means price went up and then came back down before the slice ended, so the close does not show that journey. Another mistake is to treat one candle as a signal on its own. Read the four numbers first, work out the body and the range in pips, then convert to rupees using ₹10 per pip on one standard lot. That keeps the shape tied to something you can check.Check yourself
A USD/INR candle opens at 83.2500, reaches a high of 83.2700, a low of 83.2400 and closes at 83.2600. What is the body in pips and in rupees on one standard lot?
The body is the close minus the open: 83.2600 minus 83.2500 is 0.0100, which is 10 pips. At ₹10 per pip on one standard lot, that body is ₹100.
Using the same candle, what is the whole range in pips and in rupees?
The range is the high minus the low: 83.2700 minus 83.2400 is 0.0300, which is 30 pips. At ₹10 per pip on one standard lot, the range is ₹300.